Railway traffic controlling apparatus



July 21-, 1931. A H. s. YOUNG 1,815,640

RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROLLING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 16, 1950 zvfififliz INVENTOR L v 41 YM N 1 ATTORNEY Patented July 21, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIC HENRY S. YOUNG, OF WILKINSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO, THE UNION SWITCH & SIGNAL COMPANY, 013 SWISSVALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA RAILWAY TRAFFIC CONTROLLING APPARATUS Application filed August is, 1930. Serial No. 475,735.

My invention relates to railway traflic con trolling apparatus, and particularly to apparatus of the type involving a rallway switch, a manually operable lever for the control of the switch, and indication apparatus controlled by the switch for governing the operation of the lever.

I will describe one form of apparatus embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims. I

The accompanying drawing is'a diagrammatic view showing one form of apparatus embodying my invention.

Referring to the drawing, the reference character S designates a railway switch which is operated by a switch mechanism A. The mechanism A is controlled by a manually operable lever L, the movements of which are governed by normal and reverse indication magnets M and M These magnets are' in turn controlled by normal and reverse indication relays R and R the supply of current to which relays is governed by a pole-changer P associated with the switch mechanism A.

The switch mechanism A may, for example, be of the electropneumatic type, comprising a normal magnet N, a reverse magnet R, and a lock magnet L, it being understood that the switch will be moved to the normal or the reverse position according as the normal or the reverse magnet is energized, provided that the lock magnet L is also energized.

The lever L has the usual four functional positions N, B, D and R, these positions being respectively the normal positlon, the normal indicating position, the reverse indicating position, and the reverse position. The

normal indication magnet M is provided with an armature 4L actuating a latch 8 which coacts with a segment 2 on the lever L, the operation being such that when the lever is in the normal position it can not be moved to the reverse position unless the magnet M is energized. Furthermore, when the lever is moved from the reverse position toward the normal position, it can not go beyond the normal indicating position B unless the magnet M is energized. The latch and segment rectangular core 6, the two vertical legs of which are provided with windings 7 and 8. This core is provided with an extension 9, and an armature 10 is pivotally attached to the free end of this extensionso that it can move toward and away from the rectangular core 6. Winding 8 is constantly supplied with current from a suitable source, the terminals of which are designated X and Y, and winding 7 is at times supplied ,with current of normal or reverse polarity as will be explained hereinafter. When current of normal polarity is supplied to winding 7 the flux produced by this winding opposes that produced by Winding 8, whereupon armature 10 is attracted to the rectangular portion of the core; when winding 7 is supplied with current of reverse polarity, the flux produced by this winding is in the same direction as that produced by winding 8, so that this flux has lit- P tle or no eifect on armature 10, with the re sult' that the armature is released and will drop away from the rectangular portion of the core. It follows that relay R will re spond only to current of normal polarity in Winding The reverse indication relay R is similar to the'nornial indication relay in all respects, except that it will respond only to current of reverse polarity in winding 7.

As shown in the drawing, the switch S, the lever L, and thepole-changer P, are all in normal positions. Normal magnet N of the switch mechanism A is energized,-the circuit being from terminal X, through N B contact 20 of lever'L, and thenormal magnet N to terminal Y. Indication relay R is also energized, the circuit being from terminal X, through pole-changer P, winding 7 of relay R N-B contact 18 on lever L, and polechanger P to terminal Y. All of the other circuits associated with the apparatus are open, except, of course, the circuit for winding 8 of each relay R.

I will now assume that the operator desires to reverse the switch S. To do this, he will first actuate the latch on lever L to close the latch contact 5, andthis will result in'encrgizing indication magnet M, the circuit being from terminal X, through contact 5, magnet M front contact 11 of relay. R back contact 12 of relay It, N B contact 13 on lever L, and front contact 1% ofa-relay T to terminal Y. The relay T may be the track relay for a detector track section associated with the switch S. Magnet IV N being energized the operator may then move the lever L to the reverse indicating position I). The circuit for switch mechanism magnet N will then be opened at lever contact 20 and the circuit for the reverse magnet R will be closed at lever contact 21. At the same time, the circuit for winding 7 of the normal indication relay R will-be opened at lever contact 18, and the circuit for winding 7 of the reverse indication relay R will become closed at lever contact 19. Relay R responds, however, only to current of reverse polarity, but this relay will then be supplied with current of normal polarity, so that its armature 10 will remai open. Both relays R willnow be deenergized, so that the lock magnet L will become energized by virtue of a circuit whichpasses from terminal X, through back contact 22 of relay R backcontact 23 of relay R and the lock magnet L to terminal Y. Magnets It and L of the switch mechanism A being energized, the switch S will be moved to its reverse position. Upon the completion of this movement, pole: changer P will reverse, whereupon current 0t reverse polarity will be supplied to winding of relay It. The circuit for this winding is from terminal X, through the upper arm of pole-changer P, lever contact 19, winding 7 of relay R and the lower arm of pole-changer P to terminal Y. This current being of reverse polarity relay R will become energized. Indication magnet M will'then be energized by a circuit which-passes from terminal X,

I of magnet M through latch contact 5, magnet M front contact 15 of relay R back contact 16 of relay R lever contact 17 and front contact l l'of relay T to terminal Y. The energization will permit the operator to complete the movement of lever L to its re verse position.

In order to restore the switch S to its normal position, the operator will close the latch contact 5, thereby again energizing the reverse'indicationzmagnet M and he will then move the lever L to its normal indicating positionBi This will again close the circuit for the normal magnet N at lever contact 20, and will open the circuit for winding 7 of relay R at lever contact 19, so that magnets N and L will both be energized and the switch will be restored to its normal position. IVhen the switch reaches this position, pole-changer P will return to its normal position, so that the normal indication relay {N will again be energized. Indication magnet M will then be energized to permit the lever to be shifted to its full normal position.

One feature of my invention is the provision of the two individual indication relays R and R responsive respectively only to current of normal and reverse polarity, and the control of each indication magnet M by a front contact of the associated indication relay and a back contact of the other indication relay. By this means I am able to prevent a false indication in the event of a failure of the proper response of the indication relays to the position of the switch. That is to say, when the switch is in the normal position, the lever L cannot be moved away from normal position unless the normal relay R is energized andthe reverse relay R is deenergized. Si 111- ilarly, when the switch is in the reverse position, the lever L cannot be moved away from the reverse position unless the reverse relay R is energized and the normal relay R is deenergized. Another advantage of apparatus embodying my invention is that in the event of failure of the armature of either relay R to release in response to an operation of the switch, lock magnet L cannot be energized and so the switch cannot be operated by a subsequent movement of the lever; this provides a check on the proper functioning ofthe indication relays.

Furthermore, the circuit for lock magnet L is the same for operating the switclrin response to movements of the lever andfor restoring'the switch to the position correspond ing to that of the lever in the event of the switch being moved by an extraneous influence, so that the self restoring circuit is checked during the usual operation of the switch.

Another advantage of apparatus embodymg my invention, is that the lock magnet L may be controlled entirely by back contacts of the indication relays R, thereby avoiding the necessityfor controlling this magnet bv contacts on the lever L. U

Although I have herein shown and described only one formof apparatus embodyingmy invention, it is understood that various cliangesand' modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. In combination, a railway switch. two relays, one of which responds only to currents of normal polarity and the other of which responds only to current of reverse polarity, means for supplying said relays with current of normal or reverse polarity according as said switch is in its normal or its reverse position, and indication means for said switch controlled by said relays.

2. In combination, a railway switch, a lever for controlling said switch, two relays, one of which responds only to current of normal polarity and the other of which responds only to current of reverse polarity, means for supplying said relays with current of normal or reverse polarity according as said switch is in its normal or its reverse position, and means for controlling said lever by said relays.

3. In combination, a railway switch having normal and reverse positions, a lever for the control of said switch and also having normal and reverse positions, a normal relay responding only to current of normal polarity, a reverse relay responding only to current of re verse polarity, a pole-changer associated with said switch, a circuit for said normal relay including said pole-changer and a normal lever contact, a circuit for said reverse relay including said pole-changer and a reverse lever contact, and means for controlling said lever by said relays.

at. In combination, a railway switch having normal and reverse positions, a lever for the control of said switch and also having normal and reverse positions, a normal relay responding only to current of normal polarity, a reverse relay responding only to current of reverse polarity, a pole-changer associated with said switch, a circuit for said normal relay including said pole-changer and a normal lever contact, a normal and a reverse indication magnet for said lever, a circuit for said normal magnet including a front contact of said normal relay and a back contact of said reverse relay as well as a normal lever contact, and a circuit for said reverse magnet including a front contact of said reverse relay and a back contact of said normal relay as well as a reverse lever contact.

5. In combination, a railway switch having normal and reverse positions, a lever for the control of said switch and also having normal and reverse positions, a normal relay responding only to current of normal polarity, a reverse relay responding only to current of reverse polarity, means for supplying said relays with current of normal or reverse polarity according as said switch is in normal or reverse position, means for preventing said lever being moved from normal to reverse position unless said normal relay is energized and said reverse relay is deenergized, and means for preventing said lever being moved from reverse to normal position unless said reverse relay is energized and said normal relay is deenergized.

6. In combination, a railway switch having normal and reverse positions, a lever for the control of said switch and also having normal andreverse positions, a normal relay responding only to current of normal polarity, a reverse relay responding only to current of reverse polarity, a pole-changer associated with said switch, a circuit for said normal relay including said pole-changer and a normal lever contact, a circuit for said reverse relay including said pole-changer and a reverse lever contact, an operating mechanism for said switch including a normal magnet, a reverse magnet and a lock magnet, a circuit for said normal magnet including a normal lever contact, a circuit for said reverse magnet including a reverse lever contact, and a circuit for said lock magnet in cluding a back contact of each of said relays In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HENRY S. YOUNG. 

